FROM THE EDITOR

The reaction to our newly-redesigned GCN magazine and website has been huge and heartening, but counterbalancing our celebration, it’s been a sad beginning to the summer. On the day our relaunch issue was printed, Ireland’s queer community lost one of its greatest champions of equality, the powerhouse that was Ann Louise Gilligan. And then on July 1, legendary and beloved Cork activist, Dave Roach passed away suddenly. Both Ann Louise’s and Dave’s partners, Katherine Zappone and Paul O’Sheah, pay tribute to them in this issue, and while we know there are hard times ahead, we also know the legacies of both these hugely courageous mavericks will live on, not only in the LGBT+ community, but in Ireland.

About GCN

In this issue of GCN Róisín McVeigh explores the changing representation of lesbians on the big screen against the background of GAZE's screening of the controversial Below Her Mouth; Toryn Glavin argues that The Crying Game has a ring of trans truth; Editor Brian Finnegan explore Ireland's LGBT+ community's paradoxical relationship with An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar; Tributes are paid to two beloved LGBT activists, Ann Loiuse Gilligan and Dave Roach, by those who loved them most; Legendary queer photographer Nan Goldin and feminist filmmaker Vivienne Dick sit down with Mary Nally to discuss queerness, mythomaniacs and much else. And of course, there's much more to explore...